Spill board



Aug. 10, 1943. v. I. DUDLEY SPILL BOARD Filed 061',- 16, 1941 2 Shets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR Victor LDudleH A T ORNEY T H x 11H Q 9 NM m a l U Wm m Q mm WM ON SQ Ir-H 0, 1943. v. 1. DUDLEY 2,326,444

SPILL BOARD Filed Oct. 16, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Victor I.Dudley ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 10, 1943 SPILL BOARD Victor I. Dudley, Franklin, Pa., assignor to Joy Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application October 16, 1941, Serial No. 415,183

Q Claims. (Cl. 214-83) This invention relates to self-propelled vehicles having a conveyor bottom and more particularly to a new and improved spill board for use on such vehicles to prevent spillage of the material during the operation of the conveyor.

The present invention is particularly adapted for use on the conveyor bottomed cars, known in the art as shuttle cars, employed in underground mines to haul coal and the like from the coal producing area to a discharge station, where the coal is delivered onto an endless belt conveyor, a trip of mine cars or the like.

The side walls of the shuttle cars now most generally in use slope upwardly and outwardly from the side edges of the conveyor for a portion of the length of the car and merge into vertical walls adjacent the discharge end of the conveyor. As a result of this construction, the entire load is carried toward the discharge end of the conveyor, on the operation thereof. That is, the coal moves through the car substantially as a column or as if it were solid instead of in lumps of various sizes. Consequently, if the conveyor slopes upwardly toward the discharge end of the car, as it does in cars designed to unload directly onto a belt conveyor, the top of the column of coal is raised above the side walls and lumps may fall over onto the operator's platform which is located at the discharge end of the car, thereby subjecting the operator to the risk of bodily injury and interfering with the manipulation of the controls of the car and the conveyor.

Due to the fact that the majority of coal seams are relatively thin, it is impossible to add rigid v 'terial on the conveyor and on completion of the unloading operation automatically turn to an inoperative out of the way position.

Another object is to provide spill boards for a material transporting vehicle having an unloading conveyor which lie within the overall height of the car while the car is being loaded or traveling and become vertical extensions of the side walls during the unloading of the material to prevent spillage over the sides of the cars.

A further object is to provide spill boards at the discharge end of a vehicle having a conveyor bottom which will eflectively prevent the material from spilling over the sides of the vehicle during the unloading operation without interfering with the loading or traveling functions of the car.

These and other objects which will hereinafter be made apparent to those skilled in this particular art, are accomplished by means of this invention, one embodiment of which is described in the following specifications and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a self-unloading vehicle equipped with spillage boards made or tipple, where the coal is unloaded and de-- livered onto the primary haulage unit of the mine for transportation to the surface.

The car II) has a chain and flight conveyor ll passing over the floor or bottom l2 thereof which is used not only to unload the car, but also to carry the material forward in the car during the loading operation. The conveyor II is the same width as the floor l2 and material is retained on the conveyor H by outwardly sloping side walls l3 (providing a relatively wide material receiving compartment), which merge into vertical side walls l4 extending to the forward or discharge end of the car. outwardly sloping side boards i5 are secured to the top of the vertical walls M in the central part of the car. The side boards l5 terminate in short vertical walls I5a at the operators station it, located adjacent one of the vertical side walls I4 at the discharge end of the car.

At the forward or discharge end of the car, the floor .of the car, and consequently the conveyor H passing thereover, inclines upwardly as at ll so that the height of the vertical side walls l4 above the top of the conveyor H is materially reduced.

Consequently, when the conveyor l I is operated to unload the car, the coal or other material which is moved forward in its entirety, or as a In order to prevent spillage of the coal or other material over the vertical side walls I4, a triangularly shaped member or spillage board I8 is secured to a series of hinges I 9 mounted on the inner surface of each of the side walls l4. The members or spill boards l8 extend from the forward or discharge end of the car to the short vertical sections I501 of the side boards I and are held in spaced relation above the conveyor II by substantially U-shaped guards 20 which are attached to the outer or top surface of the members is and extend over the top of the side wall l4. Each of the guards 20 has a leg 2| which engages the outer surface of its respective side wall 14 and limits the downward turning movement of the member J8. Each of the members I8 has a longitudinal bend 22 therein so that the inner portions of the members normally lie in substantially a horizontal plane.

Hinges 23 connect a plate 24 to the inner edge of each of the members I8. These plates 24 form an extension of the vertical side board sections I 50. and are maintained in vertical relation to the said side boards l5a by a slip hook 25 which is secured to the inner surface of the vertical sections l5a and hooks over the top edge of the plates 24. The hooks 25 permit limited movement of the plates 24 relative to the side boards l5a while maintaining the plates 24 in a vertical position with respect to the members l8.

When a car equipped with spill boards made in accordance with my invention is unloaded, the coal or othe material is carried forward by the endless conveyor H and engages the under sides of the members l8 causing the members to move upwardly or turn about the hinges [9 until they are in a plane substantially parallel to the vertical side walls l4. In the raised position A the members l8, are, in effect, vertical continuations of the side Walls l4 and the plates 24 are extensions of the side boards I 5a. As the members l8 move upwardly, the plates 24 are also As soon as the coal or other material has been,

moved through the car and no longer contacts the members l8, said members as a result of the weight distribution due to the bend 22, automatically fall or drop until the legs 2| of the guards 20 re-engage the outer surface of the side walls [4.

From this construction it is apparent that I have provided spill boards for a vehicle having a conveyor bottom which are raised into an operative position by the material being unloaded, and which, when the material has been unloaded, drop into a position below the top of the side walls of the car whereby the overall height of the vehicle is not aifected by the spill boards.

While I have shown and described my invention in connection with a shuttle car for transporting coal in underground coal mines, it is to veyor, comprising a triangularly shaped member hinged to each of said side walls adjacent the discharge end of said conveyor, means for limiting the .turning of said members in one direction while permitting free turning thereof in the opposite direction, a plate hinged to-the inner edge of each of said first mentioned members, and means for maintaining said plates in definite relation to said side walls-while permitting movement thereof relative thereto.

2. Spill boards for a mine shuttle car having a conveyor passing over the bottom thereof and load retaining walls along the sides of said conveyor, comprising a member hinged to each of said .side walls adjacent the discharge end of.

said conveyor and projecting into said car, a guard secured to each of said members and engaging its respective side wall to hold said members in spaced relation above said conveyor, said guards being adapted to permit free upward movement of said members, a side wall extension hinged to each of said members, and means for maintaining said side wall extensions in predetermined relation to said side walls.

3. Spill boards for a mine shuttle car having a conveyor passing over the bottom thereof and load retaining walls along the sides of said conveyor, comprising a member hinged to the inner surface of each of said side walls adjacent the discharge end of said conveyor, each of said members being bent longitudinally thereof whereby said members tend to fall onto said conveyor, a side wall extension pivoted to each of said members, means for limiting the downward movement of said members, and means for maintaining said side wall extensions in vertical relation to said side walls.

4. A spill board for a mine shuttle car having a conveyor passing over the bottom thereof and load retaining walls along the sides of said conveyor, comprising a member hinged to the inner surface of each of said side walls adjacent the discharge end of said conveyor, a U-shaped guard secured to each of said members and having a leg engaging the side wall to which the member is hinged, a side wall extension hinged to the inner edge of said members, and a guide secured to each of said side walls and engaging one of said side "wall extensions.

5. Spill boards for a mine shuttle car having a conveyor passing over the bottom thereof and load retaining walls along the sides of said conveyor, comprising a member hinged to the inner surface of each of said side walls adjacent the discharge end of said conveyor, a side wall extension hinged to the edge of each of said members, means for limiting the movement of said members in one direction while permitting said members to move freely in the other direction, and means for-maintaining said side wall extensions in predetermined relation to said side walls through the entire cycle of movement of said members.

6. Spill boards for a mine shuttle car having a conveyor passing over the bottom thereof and load retaining walls along the sides of said conveyor comprising a member hinged to each of said side walls adjacent the discharge end of said conveyor and normally projecting inwardly into said car, means ,for holding said members in spaced relation above said conveyor while permitting free turning thereof to a substantially upright position, an upright plate hinged to the inner edge of each of the said members, and means for holding said plates in upright relation to saidside walls while permitting longitudinal movement thereof relative to said side walls.

'7. The combination with a car having a conveyor passing over the floor thereof for discharging material at one end thereof and a load retaining wall along each side of said conveyor, of means for increasing the height of said load retaining walls at the discharge end of said car during the unloading thereof comprising a member hinged to the upperportion of each of said load retaining walls extending longitudinally of said car, and means for normally holding said members in a position overlying said conveyor, said means being adapted to permit said members to be turned to a substantially upright position by the material being discharged from said car, whereby the height of the said load retaining walls during-the unloading of said car is materially increased.

8. The combination with a car having a conveyor passing over the floor thereof for discharging material at one end thereof and a load retaining wall along each of said conveyor,- ofmeans for increasing the height of said load'retaining walls at the discharge end of said car during the unloading thereof comprising a member hinged to each of said' load retaining walls adjacent the upper edge thereof and means holding said members in a position overlyingsaid conveyor whereby said members normally lie within the overall height of the car, said means being adapted to limit the turning movement of said members toward said conveyor while permitting said members to be turned freely to a substantially upright position by the material being discharged fromv said car whereby the. 

